12/15/13

Peppermint.
For some reason I crave peppermint more so in the winter than any other season.
Do you?
Is there a vitamin or mineral in the mint that my body is lacking?
I don't know, is that true? Whatever veggie, spice, herb or meat you craving consistently is what you are lacking nutritionally?
Anywho.....How did these bars come about?
My yearning for a peppermint meltaway cookie really.
But I couldn't just do a boring slice and bake cookie; I added a few more steps
--ok a lot more steps, to fancy it up.
Aren't the colors so pretty and festive?
This recipe is fairly quick and easy. You can make the dough the night before, let it chill out in the
fridge.
Then assemble and bake the next day.
ONE key step to this recipe: the Andes Peppermint Crunch Baking Chunks.
Have you tried these? It was the first time I'd seen them. I wish I had found them earlier.
What a great and tasty on its own little baking chip: it comes complete with peppermint and white chocolate in one!
When researching these baking chips I had no idea they were owned by tootsie roll.
I found the chips at Walmart in the candy aisle--NOT the baking aisle.
If you can't find these chips?
Take some crushed candy canes and mix with white chocolate chips; equal portion of each.
These bars are decadent; taste like a shortbread bars but have the consistency and texture of a meltaway.
The middle filling is gentle on the mint.
I didn't want a heavy mint taste in these bars, so I didn't add any mint extract.
If you do a quick taste-test of the cookie dough and want a little bit of mint in there, then feel free to add some. Or add it to the cream cheese filling.
I made the top of the bars have a nice "crumble crunch" to it.
If you flatten the dough pieces as opposed to circle chunks, the flattened pieces will crisp up nicely.
I made just a little bit of minty icing over the top in order for the sprinkling of chips to stick and stay
on the bars.
And since baking hindsight is 20/20, I could have added a bit of red or even green food coloring
to the icing for a nice festive touch.
Only saved one for me; the prettiest one in fact. :-)

(plus we will use more of the peppermint crunch chips for
topping the cream cheese

filling)

you might need some mint extract, if you want a minter
filling, optional

topping:

icing (1 cup of powdered sugar, mixed with splash or two of
heavy cream, and dash of mint extract)

Andes Peppermint Crunch chips

Cook notes:

The middle filling is gentle on the mint.

I didn't want a heavy mint taste in these bars, so I didn't
add any mint extract.

If you do a quick taste-test of the cookie dough and want a
little bit of mint in there, then feel free to add some. Or add it to the cream
cheese filling.

I made the top of the bars have a nice "crumble
crunch" to it.

If you flatten the dough pieces as opposed to circle chunks,
the flattened pieces will crisp up nicely.I only used about ¾ of the bag of the peppermint crunch chips.

I made just a little bit of minty icing over the top in
order for the sprinkling of chips to stick and stay on the bars.

And since baking hindsight is 20/20, I could have added a
bit of red or even green food coloring to the icing for a nice festive touch. Also,
I love my icing to be very thick, so I only added a splash of heavy cream to
the powdered sugar, but if you want to thin it out just add more cream.

the dough:

Using a mixer or by hand (my method) mix butter and powdered
sugar until creamy and no lumps.Add in
the flour, cornstarch and salt.I used
my hands to mix until just combined; no need to over work the dough, we want it
to be light and airy, not tough.This
will be a dry dough, that’s ok, just place it on plastic wrap, mold into a
large ball or disk and wrap very well and tight. Place in fridge for at least 4
hours or overnight.

When ready to bake, turn out the dough onto parchment paper;
separate it into 2/3. And 1/3. The 2/3
is the bottom layer and the 1/3 will be the crumble topping.

Turn the larger dough onto a greased 9 X 13 baking pan.
Using your hands spread the dough out evenly into the pan.If dough is too cold, let it rest a bit and
come to try.If your kitchen runs cold
this might take a while.While you’re
waiting, make the filling.

for the filling:

Mix the cream cheese, egg yolk, powdered sugar and handful
(or two) of chips in a bowl. Taste-test it and see if you want more mint, if
so, add in a dash of mint extract.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Your dough should be nicely and evenly placed
out into the baking pan, making sure to get all the corners. Add on the cream cheese filling. Do not
spread the filling to the edges! Next take the peppermint crunch chips and add
a layer on top of the filling. How much? Maybe a ½ cup or more; just use your
judgment.

Then taking the remaining 1/3 of the dough, place medium
size, flattened dough crumbles on the top. No need to push these down into the
dough. Just crumble them on like you would a crumb cake.The flatter the crumb the better chance it
has for crisping up.

Bake about 43 – 55 minutes. My oven runs horrid and not so hot,
so make sure to check these at the 43-minute mark. Look for golden brown edges
and lightly golden brown crumbs on top.

While the bars are baking make the icing by combining the
powdered sugar with the dash of mint extract, and heavy cream. If you want to add in food coloring please do
so while mixing.

When bars have cooled completely, drizzle the icing on top
and then top with more of the peppermint crunch chips.

Depending on how you slice them you should get 20 large bars
OR 25-30 smaller bars? Make sure to keep them covered in airtight
containers. They should have a shelf
life of 3 days.

Oh, yes, I'll be needing a batch of these asap! Love those Andes mint chips and anything peppermint. My local grocery store only had cherry candy canes. How is that possible? I'll have to check somewhere else.

I haven't seen these! And I am soo disappointed! But I love the basic recipe and may just have to try it with the other Andes mints and peppermint. I like peppermint also in the winter. Maybe because it makes me feel refreshed whereas sometimes winter brings me down! But today in Denver is like Spring! So weird! Thanks Dawn!

about vanilla sugar blog

Unique eats, creative recipes, as simple as possible.What drives me to create? Seeing dishes in restaurants, meals created on TV, recipes in cookbooks/online, and I always think to myself why didn’t they add this or why did they leave out that? Love to question, love to research, and love to learn about combining different flavors and textures in recipes.Recipe creations please email: vanillasugarblog@aol.com